August 01, 2019

Interesting Shift puts key Software Manager that Kept iOS on Track for first iPhone now on Apple's Headset OS Team

Apple has reportedly moved their high-profile software executive Kim Vorrath into the company’s secretive augmented reality team, a shift seen internally as intended to bring some order to the team developing a long-anticipated AR headset.

Kim Vorrath, who led program management in the software team for more than 15 years, has moved over to the team headed by Mike Rockwell, the vice president of AR and virtual reality at Apple. In the Apple hierarchy, Mr. Rockwell sits under Dan Riccio, senior vice president of hardware engineering.

Ms. Vorrath has a long history with the company. She played an important role in getting the first version of the iPhone’s operating system, iOS, out the door.

Ms. Vorrath’s hard-driving leadership style could be important for bringing an ambitious new project to life. For several years now, Apple has been at work on an augmented reality headset. Code-named T288, the glasses were scheduled to come out in 2020, Bloomberg reported in 2017. But a person close to the team said it was unclear whether it will meet that timeline.

With a likely new AR-focused operating system on the way, Ms. Vorrath could prove useful in lining up the various teams getting ready for a new product launch, said a person who has worked with her. For more, read The Information report.

To see some of the work that the Mixed Reality Headset team is working on, look no further than reading about their filed patents here. The range of projects / patents to date is quite impressive.

About Making Comments on our Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit any comments. Those using abusive language or negative behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.